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In all of my previous posts, I shared my experiences, both good and bad on cooking dishes that I had made several times. But now, I’m on dishes that I’m making for the first time. This means, I’ll need advice from my readers because I will be making LOTS of mistakes.

This week, I attempted to make harumaki. I wouldn’t say it was a complete disaster. It was edible. I want to make them again, but I would like some advice first.

Let’s talk about what harukami is before getting into the details of my first attempt. Harumaki are spring rolls.  Haru means spring and maki means roll. Like many other dishes in Japan, spring rolls originated from China, but has evolved to fit the Japanese palate. Spring rolls are consumed in many Asian countries and is pretty popular here in the US.

So, what went wrong with my first attempt? At first I thought I was doing okay. The recipe called for pork, bean sprouts, carrots, bamboo shoots, and green onions. I wanted to make a veggie version, so I purposely left out the pork. However, my intention was to include everything else. As usual, I forgot something – bamboo shoots. It wasn’t until I finished cooking the vegetables that I realized I had forgotten them. Oops!

Next – wrapping the filling. I successfully wrapped them, not ripping a single wrapper, so I thought I was back on track and doing well. But then I started to cook them. Here’s where it went downhill. The directions stated high heat, but I went with medium heat. Even at medium heat, it basically burned them. What’s the deal – were the directions wrong? Should I have gone with low heat? Then there was the seriously hot oil that was splattering everywhere. Specks of oil kept landing on my hands and damn was it hot! I thought at some point the spring rolls were going to burst! Is that due to the heat too?

The last flop – although the spring rolls appeared crispy they were actually a bit soggy in the middle. Should I have cooled the filling before wrapping them? Does it make a difference? Or is there something else I’m missing?

Overall, it wasn’t a disastrous attempt. Both my husband and son ate them and said that they were pretty good (maybe they were being nice). Any advice would be helpful? Any readers out there?

It feels like every country has their own version of meatballs. In Japan, it’s tsukune. I remember the first time I had it. I was in middle school and we went to a small Japanese restaurant called Kuni’s in an artsie area of Buffalo, NY. It was amazing! There were three meatballs per skewer, each having a soft texture with sweet soy sauce glaze. I ended up eating the entire plate by myself instead of sharing it with my family. Oops! I haven’t been to the restaurant since I graduated from high school many moons ago, but I hear it’s still open and very successful. One day I’ll make it back there and hopefully it will still be on their menu.

So what’s tsukune? It’s a Japanese chicken meatball. The main ingredient is ground chicken, which gives it the softer texture over ground beef or pork. It’s generally cooked yakitori style, but it can be pan fried, which is what I do or it can be baked. In most restaurants its skewered, but when I make it home I just plate it. Tsukune can be served as an appetizer or a main dish.

As always, the first few attempts of making tsukune have been disastrous. I take zero accountability and blame my mother for those disastrous attempts. Like my mother, I didn’t follow the directions. When the directions say, finely chop the onion, you need to follow it. Big chunks of onion in tsukune don’t go well together. The meatball should have a nice soft texture and the onions, if not finely chopped takes that texture away. Take the time and finely chop up the onion.

The sweet soy sauce glaze is what makes tsukune super tasty. However, the sauce is another area where I have made mistakes. There have a been a few times where I had the heat on too high and the sauce thickened up way to quickly. That resulted in a slightly burnt sauce that became way too thick and stringy/stretchy. It tasted okay, but it was definitely not the best. Make sure the heat is at the right temperature before pouring on the sauce.

Other than those pretty minor mistakes, it’s a super easy, tasty, kid friendly dish. Try it out sometime! If you have kids, they will enjoy it for sure. My 4 year downs about 6 -7 per meal!

Recipe:

• 1 lb ground chicken 
• 1/2 an onion
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 – 1 1/2 tsp of grated ginger
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• 4 tbsp of potato starch (for the meatball)
• Enough oil for the pan and rub on your hands
• 1 tbsp of sugar
• 2 tbsp of mirin
• 2 tbsp of soy sauce
• 3 tbsp of water
• 1/2 tsp of potato starch (for the sauce)

Mix together the sugar, mirin, soy sauce, water, and the potato starch for the sauce. Make sure the sugar and potato starch dissolve. Set aside.

In large bowl, combine ground chicken, onion, egg yolk, salt, and potato starch. Thorough mix until it gets sticky. Rub oil on the palm of your hands. Form small/medium size balls and flatten them out.

Heat a sauce pan and oil at medium heat then add the chicken meatballs to the pan. Cook on eat side for a few minutes – until it slightly brown. Add the sauce, lower the heat if necessary. Make sure to turn the tsukune over so both sides are coated with the sauce. Then it’s time to eat!

Japanese strawberry shortcake was the first cake I attempted to make on my own. Looking back, I should have definitely started with something a little easier. The cake looked great, but it was so incredibly dense I could have thrown it and put a hole in the wall. I took it to a party and although everyone was nice about it, I’m pretty sure their jaws were feeling the pain. Since then it has gotten much better, but I was always need to fully concentrate or I mess it up. On numerous occasions I forgot all about the simple syrup. We have ended up pouring it on after the cake had been constructed. Then there’s the whipped cream…I’ve ended up having clumpy unflavored gelatin in the whipped cream. So yea, it’s been a journey in perfecting this cake.

The Japanese strawberry shortcake is a bit different than the strawberry shortcake you would eat in the US. The American version isn’t really a cake since it uses sweet biscuits with whipped cream and strawberries. The Japanese version uses sponge cake, layered with whipped cream and strawberries. Like other western influenced dishes in Japan, the origin of the dish came from another country and over time it has evolved to fit the Japanese palate. In Japan, you’ll find this cake in almost every cake shop. It’s the most popular cake!

So, the hardest part, in my opinion is making the sponge cake. If you’re looking to throw around some sponge cake and cause some damage, go crazy mixing the cake batter. I didn’t realize until later that over mixing is what caused my cake from 10 years ago to be amazingly dense. The egg whites needs to be mixed thoroughly so it gets nice and fluffy, but after that all the other ingredients need to be folded in gently so that you don’t loose the fluffiness.

Next, the whipped cream. The recipe calls for unflavored gelatin to add a bit of stiffness and that has become my enemy. You dissolve the gelatin, but for some reason, I have ended up with clumpy gelatin in my whipped cream. It’s unflavored so there’s no taste, but I’ve had to tell my cake eaters that it’s nothing to worry about and it definitely doesn’t make the cake look pretty.

The easiest part is making the simple syrup. You just need to heat up sugar and water. But for some reason I always forget to brush it on the cake. I’ve had it sitting right in front of me and I’ve still forgotten it. I literally have to keep saying “simple syrup”, “simple syrup”, “simple syrup” when I start constructing the cake so I don’t forget.

This is the perfect cake if you don’t have much of a sweet tooth. My son doesn’t eat much sweets, but has requested this cake for his birthday for the last 3 years. I’m hoping by his 10th birthday I’ll really perfect it!

Ingredients:

• Sponge Cake
  • 4 eggs
  • 120 grams of granulated sugar
  • 120 grams of cake flour
  • 3 tbsp of whole milk (room temperature)
  • 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
  • 22 grams of melted & cooled unsalted butter
• Whipped Cream
  • 1 tsp of unflavored gelatin
  • 4 tsp of cold water
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1/4 of powdered sugar
  • 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
• Simple Syrup
  • 1/4 of granulated sugar
  • 1/4 of water
• 6-8 fresh strawberries

Recipe:

Sponge cake

• Separate the egg yolks and egg whites. Beat the egg whites and granulate sugar until it’s nice and fluffy. Add the egg yolks and gently mix until it’s incorporated.
• Add the whole milk, vanilla extract, and cake flour to the egg mixture. Fold them in, DO NOT mix. It will take a decent amount of time folding to make sure the flour is incorporated into the mixture.
• Add the melted butter and again fold into the batter.
• Line the bottom of the cake pan with parchment paper. Butter the sides of the cake pan and dust on the cake flour.
• Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake pan. Drop the cake pan on the counter a few times before putting it in the oven to rid of any air bubbles.
• Place in preheated oven for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.
• When the cake is done, place it on a cooling rack in the pan until cool.

Whipped cream

• Sprinkle the unflavored gelatin onto cold water in a small saucepan. Let is sit for about 5 minutes.
• After 5 minutes, place the saucepan on the stove top at low heat.
• When the gelatin has dissolved remove from the heat and let it cool to room temperature.
• In a mixture, mix the whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract until it gets slightly stiff.
• Lower the mixing speed and add the dissolved gelatin in with the cream mixture.
• Beat on high until it gets stiff.
• Place the whipped cream in the refrigerator.

Simple syrup:

• Add the granulated sugar to the water.
• Bring the water to boil, don’t forget to stir. After bringing it to boil, remove from the heat and cool.

Building the Cake:

• Once the cake has cooled, slice in half to form the cake.
• Brush a generous amount of simple syrup on the cut side of the bottom half of the cake. Then spread a thin layer of the whipped cream. Place sliced strawberries on the layer of whipped cream. Add another layer of whipped cream on top of the strawberries.
• Place the top half of the cake back on. Brush a generous amount of the simple syrup on the top part of the cake.
• Spread the whipped cream on the top and sides of the cake.
• Halve the strawberries or keep it whole and decorate the cake.
• DONE!

I came to a realization – I really like ginger. Shortly after I started blogging I noticed I use ginger a lot. Not only do I like the taste, but I love the smell. Maybe I should try some ginger candy some time.

One of my favorite dishes that highlights ginger is pork shogayaki. Four years ago, my dad was hospitalized and the hospital restaurant had shogayaki on its menu. Since then, I have eaten it every time I go to Japan, even though my dad is no longer in the hospital. My trips to Japan don’t feel complete unless I eat shogayaki during my annual trips.

What’s pork shogayaki? Well, “shoga” means ginger and “yaki” means to grill/fry. I use pork, but you can use beef as well. So, it’s basically pork with a gingery sauce. Yum!

The dish is super easy. All you need is the sauce, pork, and cabbage. The sauce includes grated ginger, soy sauce, and mirin. I really love the smell of grated ginger. There’s a sweetness to it as well as a spicy kick. As for the pork, I like to use thin slices and tenderize it by putting light slices into the pork.

The rest is super simple. I brown both sides of the pork – be careful not to overcook or it will get tough. When it’s browned, I pour the sauce over the pork and cook it for a minute or so. I usually flip it once to make sure the sauce gets on both sides. I then plate it with some shredded cabbage and pour the thickened sauce on the pork. Now it’s time to eat!

The pork shogayaki goes well with rice to balance the intensity of the ginger and the sauce. The sauce has a sweetness from the soy sauce and mirin, while the ginger gives it a nice kick (not the type that burns your mouth, but more of a bite). What’s great about shogayaki is that it can be eaten warm or cold (great for bento).

Next time you want something flavorful, but you don’t have a lot time, try making pork shogayaki. You will love it!

Ingredients:

• sliced pork loin
• 2 tbsp grated ginger
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp mirin
• cabbage

Recipe:

• Grate the ginger and combine with the soy sauce and mirin. Set aside
• Heat oil on medium heat, then brown both sides of the pork
• Pour the sauce on the pork and cook for a minute or so. Flip once during the minute. The sauce will thicken.
• Thinly slice some cabbage and place the pork on the dish with the cabbage. Add remaining sauce from pan to pork.